Traditional Feng Shui

As a Feng Shui enthusiast, I surf the web looking at what other sites have to offer in terms of Feng Shui advice, points of view, experience and knowledge. The one thing that strikes me is the lack of actual Traditional Feng Shui information there is on the web.

For example, there are sites that subscribe in both information and advising themselves as practitioners that in no way reflect traditional Feng Shui, and this is important as there is a ‘movement’ called “New Age Feng Shui” and it isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be or very little is based on Feng Shui.

The Chinese philosophy and traditions including the establishment and evolution of Feng Shui has taken around the past 4000 years to evolve. There is a great deal of consideration to this practice and many people have spent the span of their lives to the study and contribution to the philosophy, practice and tradition of Feng Shui. In the extreme, people have even lost their lives in the practice or defence of this discipline.

Yet the practice known as “New Age Feng Shui” ignores most of this, both in tradition and practice. There is little to no effort in understanding what true Feng Shui is about, if they did the persistence in this bogus practice would significantly diminish.

Traditional Feng Shui considers four core attributes

• Geographic Location (surroundings)
• The Building
• The Direction
• Time (both people and structures)

If any of these four attributes is ignored the audit is incomplete and the outcome will not provide the same result.

So what are the traditional schools of Feng Shui?

The Form school
The Flying Star school
The Eight Mansions school
The Patterns of Chi School

This is not an exhaustive list rather to illustrate that there are many ‘traditional’ schools. Note all of these schools use a compass (or loupan) in the methodology as it is critical in Traditional Feng Shui to understand direction. There is no such thing as “the Compass School” – all traditional forms of Feng Shui use a compass.

The Bogus or “New Age” Feng Shui Schools:

Black Hat Sect school of Feng Shui – claims to Tibetan heritage with Buddhism and Chinese links of traditional Feng Shui. The practice of this school totally ignores the aspects of “time” and traditional direction in feng shui. In doing so misses critical aspects of change of Qi (chi) in a single location through time and paying little attention to either the Yijing (Book of Changes) or the Treatise on Harmonising Times and Distinguishing Directions. A building’s orientation to the compass is ignored; rather the direction of the door is the base calculation of direction. The building is divided up into sections without any consideration to the time nor direction of the dwelling nor it’s occupants in accordance with Traditional Feng Shui. Black Hat Sect was introduced to the United States by Professor Thomas Lin Yun in the 1980’s and it was deliberately “dummed down” for western tastes. What’s left to say other that this suites the modern need for fast, lack of substance, disposable culture that this practice seems to flourish in.

Life Aspirations Theory – also uses the front door reference to direction, as opposed to the actual front of the house. A ‘westernised ‘bagua map is placed over the house plan and vwalla! Each of the sectors is illustrated. No need to understand the Qi of the people in the house, let alone the Qi of the house itself.

Any form of Feng Shui referring to itself as a “Western School” is suspect in our search for traditional Feng Shui.

Another aspect that separates Traditional Feng Shui form the bogus schools are the use of remedies. In Traditional Feng Shui only the five processes (also referred to as the “five phases” reflecting Qi’s change in space and time) these are Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood (listed in the productive cycle) are used to balance Qi. The use of crystals, luck charms, mirrors, fu dogs and wind charms are not used in Traditional Feng Shui. Jewellery too has nothing to do with Traditional Feng Shui, the sale of such rubbish associated with Feng Shui, is ludicrous. If these items suite your lifestyle – no problem, but don’t confuse personal taste for good Feng Shui.

The bottom line here is that we live in a world where rip offs and name exploitation are common. The French protected their national wine icons by ensuring the regional names were protected from anyone outside of their location, standards, methods of production and promotion. This was done to prevent a substandard product from debasing the reputation of the real item. Feng Shui too should be protected in name to stop new age charlatans from using the name of a respected traditional practice for monetary gain in their own right.

If you would like to understand what Traditional Feng Shui is about, please visit www.fengshuiroom.com.

The Power of Water

We are all in a constant search for a better wellbeing, for ways to reach our dreams, for ways to live a happier and healthier life. What would more powerful and natural than harnessing the energy that surrounds us daily in trying to achieve this?

In the Feng Shui tradition, used for thousands of years, water is used daily to assist in achieving these goals. Water, just like all other things surrounding us has Qi. Qi can be translated as “Life’s Breath”. It is the seen and unseen substance, the eternal energy that drives all life.

In the same tradition, the energy created though the movement of water is used as a remedy; that is a means correcting or balancing the Qi in a given environment. A water feature, fountain or waterfall can assist the movement of Qi in an otherwise stagnant room. Provided the sounds produced by these water features are gentle, the energy they offer may assist the occupants of the space. In the Chinese culture, Water, due to it’s qualities (movement, adaptability), is also symbolic of communication. As a result it may be used to encourage the quality of communication in a family environment or an office.

One of the fundamental Feng Shui principals is the cycle of processes or phases. This cycle describes how energy progresses from one form to another over time. There are five representations of energy forms; namely Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood.

As part of this cycle of processes Water interacts with Wood, Metal, Earth and Fire.
In a positive or productive relationship, Metal produces Water and Water nourishes Wood.

In the weakening or controlling cycle (see picture), Earth blocks Water and Water inturn diminishes Fire.

As a result of and in understanding the relationships between the processes (Water, Wood, Fire, Metal and Earth), each form can be used as a remedy. The purpose of a remedy is to restore or enhance energy flows in a given space. The environment should firstly be evaluated for the type of Qi it carries, promotes or denotes. If this Qi does not resonate with the occupants or there is a particular type of Qi the occupants would like to encourage then Qi can be influenced.

Further examples on the use of Water can be seen in its relationship with Wood. Wood represents growth, prosperity and creativity. If these qualities want to be encouraged, Water may be used to assist in nourishing these types of energy. This may be catered for with the simple use of a water feature.

As another example, Metal represents financial prosperity and is seen as extremely favourable for commerce. As Metal produces Water as part of the cycle of the processes, the combination of these two elements is recommended to those seeking good fortune, continuous accumulation of wealth and prosperity.

This article has focussed on space. Equally important is time. Time and space influence Qi within us and around us. Through Feng Shui study, one can ascertain how Qi changes over time and within a given space and determine auspicious settings for one’s health, wealth and relationships.

The above recommendations and suggestions should be used as part of and in conjunction with an overall proper assessment of the environment using a ‘Traditional’ Feng Shui practitioner.

A Shift of Thought and Understanding

The ‘Western’ basis of philosophy and thought is credited to have originated in Ancient Greece, the notable works of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle documented the basis for modern scientific thinking – that of rationalised thought through logic and reason. This developed into what is currently called Deductive and Inducting reasoning.

Over the past 20 years the West has become increasingly aware and accepting of concepts such as interconnectivity of everything, that we are part of a greater whole. Science itself has begun to prove the connectivity of all things in the past 100 years through the study of the atom (and sub atomic particles to their source – energy) and Einstein’s Theories on Relativity (there are two – ‘general’ and ‘special’).

“It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about nature.” – Niels Bohr

The ‘New Thought’ movement has also been gathering momentum over the course of the past century in spreading the message of universal unity of matter and energy. The message is more focused understanding god, nature and man.

So this concept is new – right?

No.

In the East cultures such as the Indians (India) and the Chinese have this belief as a central theme to their philosophy, religion and way of life. For example in India the Bhagvard Gita & Upanisads (Hindu texts) contain this thinking as understanding self and God. In the central Chinese province of Henan archaeologists uncovered a Neolithic cemetery demonstrating the practice of Feng Shui 6000 years ago.

So what is Feng Shui? Feng Shui is part philosophy, part theology, but most of all a way of life. It’s purpose is to understand and optimise the relationship between man and energy, both internal and external. Feng Shui’s foundations are found in the concept of Qi (life’s breath), the Taiji (yin and yang), the Five Processes, and the Eight Triagrams. These foundations provide the building blocks for advanced formulas using purpose built tools like the Loupan. The symbolism at the heart of this science is rich and continues to provide a means of communicating this science through the centuries and across social and cultural barriers

What about the increased awareness of universal relationships; being part of a greater whole? These themes are currently most strongly and effectively used by Personal Developers and Infopreneurs, to elevate a persons understanding of themselves in their environment. If you are one of these people open minded enough to understand this and be shaping your life due to this ‘awakening’, I ask you to consider your environment as much as you are working on yourself.

The key question being is your environment resonating with you (good Qi), providing you an atmosphere conducive to positive, creative, happy thoughts and well being? Or is your environment sapping your energy, leaving your feeling tired or lethargic, or feeling down and alone (Bad Qi)? This is where Feng Shui offers something for everybody. You don’t have to believe in crystal healing or practice yoga to receive the benefits of practical classical Feng Shui, you do need an open mind.